Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall take a trun on the dancefloor during visit to Christchurch, New Zealand (GALLERY)

THE Prince of Wales gave a masterclass in ballroom dancing, taking to the floor without the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Corwall dance during a visit to Christchurch

THE Prince of Wales gave a masterclass in ballroom dancing, taking to the floor without the Duchess of Cornwall.

A fleetfooted Charles impressed the public with his moves as he twirled a female companion around to the sounds of 1940s swing jazz music.

But Camilla was not left out, she also shimmied a few feet from the prince with her own partner.

The royal couple showed their lighter side as they visited Christchurch in New Zealand to learn how its residents have rebuilt their lives following last year’s devastating earthquake.

The dancefloor is a pop-up facility called Dance-O-Mat, created by the charitable trust Gap Filler, which has coin operated lighting and sound courtesy of a washing machine that plays tunes from an mp3 player.

For almost two years the organisation has been finding creative uses for open spaces left following the earthquake that struck Christchurch in September 2010 and the second deadly quake in February 2011 that claimed more than 180 lives.

Camilla was the first to take to the dance floor after she accepted an invitation from Sam Johnson, an undergraduate who was widely praised for organising a student volunteer army to help in the aftermath of the devastating natural disaster.

The Duchess, who is well known fan of the BBC’s celebrity ballroom dancing show Strictly Come Dancing, held the student activist’s right hand with hers and they moved at a gentle pace.

After a few moments Camilla looked over to her husband who was watching from the sidelines and said “Come on darling you’ve got to dance too”.

But it was Lisa Shannon, 57, a psychology student from Christchurch who seized the moment and asked the heir to the throne if he wanted to dance.

The heir to the throne danced cheek to cheek with Ms Shannon and laughed as they pulled apart then twirled her around again as he showed off his skills.

Ms Shannon said: “If you don’t ask you don’t get, I just saw him standing there looking a bit lonely and I thought I’d ask him to dance.”

The royal couple's twirl on the dancefloor came after they visited a shopping area of Christchurch city centre to see how retailers and independent business forced out of their premises by the earthquake have set up home in renovated cargo ship containers.

Survivors of the natural disaster had earlier told the Prince and Duchess their harrowing stories during a reception at Christchurch City Council offices.

The royal couple privately met around 20 people who had been badly injured when buildings collapsed during the 6.3 magnitude earthquake which struck at 12.51pm on February 22, last year.

Widespread damage resulted especially in central Christchurch and its eastern suburbs as the quake’s epicentre was close to the middle of the city and buildings had been weakened by the 2010 quake.

More than half the people killed were in the six-storey Canterbury Television Building, which collapsed and caught fire.

Charles and Camilla’s visit to Christchurch came on the last day of their Diamond Jubilee tour to mark the Queen’s 60-year reign that saw them visit Australia and Papua New Guinea.

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Alastair Machray

Alastair Machray was appointed editor of The Liverpool Echo in 2005 and is also editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. He is a former editor of The Daily Post (Wales and England) and editor-in-chief of the company's Welsh operations. Married dad-of-two and keen golfer Alastair is one of the longest-serving newspaper editors in the country. His titles have won numerous awards and spearheaded numerous successful campaigns.